Our church was dedicated on May 12, 1968. At that time our Pastor, Reverend John J. O'Brien, wrote these words:

"The new Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church stands as an eternal symbol of the triumph of prayer and hope over doubt and uncertainty. The members of this Parish have long sought a place of worship to which they could point with pride to the community, and to friends, and join together in Holy prayer. Now this is a reality. To be sure, the edifice itself is temporal, and it is the product of the combined will, perseverance, sacrifice and toil of many people, both within the Parish and without. But, it is more than that: it is a lasting monument to our Faith. It is Spiritual both in its purpose and in its design. Generations to come may not recall the efforts which have produced this beautiful Church, but the Spirit that made it possible will remain forever. May the Grace of God be with each of you."

The History
Our faith community began humbly. The town, Mill Valley, was named for John Reed's Sawmill. Like all the little communities in the area, it began growing with the inauguration of regular ferry service from San Francisco to Marin County. A gala land auction was held at the sawmill and by 1890 a post office had been established.

In 1893 the town's name was changed to Eastland after the president of the Tamalpais Land & Water Co. The new community boasted 500 residents and 1500 "tourist people".

It was at this time that Father John Valentini, assistant pastor of Star of the Sea parish in Sausalito, just a few miles to the South, began hitching up his horse and buggy on Sunday mornings to say a Mass in "Eastland" and a second Mass in Bolinas, on the other side of Mt. Tamalpais and up the coast a bit. The first church service was celebrated at the home of Mr. and Mrs. James A. Thompson on Molino Avenue. The large Thompson family included the famed novelist Kathleen Norris, Fred Thompson, also an author, and Joseph Jr. an inventor and engineer.

Later, Fr. Valentini said his Masses in a room at the now-gone Summit Grammar School, and after working for a church building, he eventually succeeded in gathering the help of the Tamalpais Land & Water Co. in securing a site at the rear of the old school for a plain wooden frame structure measuring 33 ft. by 65 ft.

It was over 100 years ago - in 1893 - that the first Our Lady of Mount Carmel was dedicated by Archbishop Patrick W. Riordan assisted by the pioneer Sausalito pastors Fr. Valentini and Fr. Cummins.

There are two commonly told tales as to the origin of the name of our parish. The first and most widely accepted story is that the area reminded Fr. Valentini of Mt. Carmel in Northern Palestine. It is claimed that in 84 A.D. the descendants of St. Elias built the first church at the foot of Mt. Carmel, honoring the Mother of Jesus. Mt. Tamalpais (Miwok for "Woman at Rest") rises dramatically from the little valley just as Mt. Carmel did in Palestine. The second story is that the church was named in honor of a parishioner who had supported Fr. Valentini's struggle to build the church. But no one is sure whether it was named for Carmela Fenton or Carmelita Boyle both of whom were ardent workers on the Church's behalf.

By 1900 the little town, once again called Mill Valley, had 1500 permanent residents. The great San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906 boosted its growth and by 1910 Our Lady of Mount Carmel became an independent parish, with Fr. Joseph Sesnon named its first pastor.

Now there was a question as to where the center of town would ultimately develop. Fr. Valentini bought a future church site at Carmelita and West Blithedale avenues, while Fr. Sesnon decided to buy a site at the corner of Buena Vista. When Fr. Philip Byrne became pastor in 1916 he began building a much needed new church at Fr. Sesnon's site.

Our church then became a stucco, Spanish Mission-styled building with a seating capacity of 200 and a Rectory adjacent to it. Archbishop Edward J. Hanna dedicated it in January 1917 and the celebrant for a Solemn High Mass was Msgr. John G. Cantwell, later to become Archbishop of Los Angeles.

Fr. John J. O'Brien became pastor in 1955. The church at the time was over crowded and an increase to five Sunday masses was necessary. The community of Mill Valley was in need of a parochial school as well as a larger church. It was 18 years before the present Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church was built.

 

The Architecture and its part in Parish Life

Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church is, in design and construction, a composite of semi-contemporary and the traditional architecture typical of Mill Valley.

Its copper covered spire, with the 18-foot gold leaf cross at the top, reaches up 140 feet from sidewalk level, and is a landmark visible for miles away. Yet, the structure itself, with the adjoining Rectory, nestles into the hillside so that it complements rather than dominates the natural beauty of the surrounding landscaping.

Structurally, the exterior walls are of earth color concrete, and extend to a height of 15 feet. The free floating roof extends 12 feet beyond the exterior face.

A dozen columns support the massive, curved laminated beams which sweep upward 60 feet above the nave floor, culminating in a colorful mandala, 24-feet in diameter.

The main entrance area or narthex is constructed of lava rock, surrounding massive redwood doors. Overhead is the faceted glass window depicting Our Lady of Mount Carmel presenting the Scapular to Saint Simon Stock.

To the left, as you enter the narthex, is the soundproofed baby room. The walls and ceiling have been painted in sky blue with white, puffy, air-brushed clouds. Every baby baptized gets to leave their little foot prints in pink and purple on the clouds. The carpet is dark, grass-green. To the right is the Parish spiritual-lending library containing spiritual books, tapes and references.

Once inside, a visual blend of texture, color and light intrigues the eye and calms the soul. The 850 seats are created by rows of pews constructed by the Trappist Monks of Oregon, but their placement in the twelve-sided polygonal shape provides that no pew is more than 17 rows from the altar. This large pie-shaped wedge created by the rows of pews is gently sloped from back to front toward the sanctuary to assure uninterrupted viewing of the sacrifice of the Mass.

The huge vertical columns which divide the polygon are finished on the inside as sandblasted shale aggregate with Venetian glass mosaic inserts whose colors move through the spectrum of the rainbow.

Special lighting creates beautiful effects, both inside and outside the Church. Inside a bank of overhead spotlights illuminates the nine-foot Crucifix which hangs on a pure white dolomite rock wall behind the altars. The Crucifix is an antique and once hung in the original Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church. The bases of both altars are made of lava rock and have marble tops of imported Cremo Delicoto.

The main interior lighting consists of six 500 Watt lights, mounted behind the colorful mandala 65 feet above the nave which casts differing
hues of colored light on the pews below. Lighting along the walls provides illumination downward to the pews and upward to the ten, five-foot high faceted stained-glass windows which ring the Church just below the roof line.

These ten windows are remarkable for two reasons: the color progression from blue to red and back to blue, through the color spectrum, and because each of the windows represents a part of all the major days and seasons of the liturgical calendar in symbolic form.

To study the windows and appreciate their meaning, one must face away from the altar, toward the main door, and follow around in a clockwise progression as follows:

1) In predominantly blue hues the Angels are seen with trumpets, declaring the Advent in preparation for the coming of the Lord.

2) The next window, in shades of green depicts the Birth of Christ and Epiphany through the representation of the crib of Jesus and the Gifts of the Wise Men. Our Lady of Mount Carmel has three Christmas Eve Masses, the children's pageant, the adult pageant and a midnight mass. The Epiphany (which means a glimpse of God) is explained in the visit of the three wise men who came to the baby Jesus bearing gifts. Part of the celebration at Our Lady of Mount Carmel includes a 24-hour Adoration of Jesus.

3) The transition of color to olive and yellow depicts the beginning of the Lenten Season. The palms represent Ash Wednesday and Palm Sunday. Lent is an important season at Our Lady of Mount Carmel and we prepare as Jesus did for death and resurrection and the Will of God. We walk His path in order to understand the great Gift he gave us.

4) The fourth window depicts Good Friday represented by Veronica's veil which extends over a series of crosses illustrating Christ's suffering while carrying the cross. The cross of the Crucifixion itself is flanked by those of the two thieves. The following two crosses symbolize His descent. Holy week is celebrated by the participation of the parish community in several symbolic rituals which the washing of the feet, the Passover Meal or Last Supper, the Veneration of the Cross, the Stations of the Cross and others. There are smaller, faceted stained-glass windows located high along the walls which depict the fourteen Stations of the Cross. During night devotions, subdued exterior backlighting illuminates the windows. The Stations of the Cross are said every Friday evening during lent. A pageant "walking" the Stations is created as a part of the three-hour Good Friday services.

5) The splendid red hues of the next window illustrate the joy of Easter Sunday, the flag of the Resurrection, overlapping the sun of justice. The boldness of the colors depicts the triumph of life over death.

6) This beautiful window shows the feet and lower garment of Christ in the act of His Ascension. The imprints of His feet are left upon the green hillside.

7) Returning to the yellow tones, in this window the Holy Spirit is shown in the form of a dove emitting the seven flames of love, and is symbolic of the Pentecost.

8) Christ the King is symbolized by His crown, sceptre and orb, with the background in the yellow of divinity.

9) The triangle of the Trinity is next seen with the eye of God in the middle and flanked by the Chi-Rho symbol and the dove of the Holy Spirit.

10) The last window depicts the end of the ecclesiastical year, and shows the Angles that will be sent forth with trumpets to greet us.

© 2002 olmcmv.org